Running wire tightener or reeling apparatus



H. W. ROOS Feb, 10, 1942.

RUNNING WIRE TIGHTENER' OR REELING APPARATUS I Filed March 4, 1941 29 fzmgy M3005 INVENTOR BY I 0 peere Feb. 10, 1942 APP ARATUS Henry w. noes, Cincinnati, Ohio Application March 4, 1941, Serial No. 381,714 14 Claims. (61.140-1025) This invention relates to a wire tightener or reeling apparatus, such as may be employed for tightening wire or cable or other fastening means about boxes, bales, construction forms, and

, circled by a relatively short pull followed by a twist, for

tightening the wire or cableabout an object enthe wire or cable. With such .tools, it

was not possible to use the apparatus as a runbundles of various types, or which may be used ning tightener or reel, andfor that reason it in continuously reeling in or paying out wire, cable, or cords of various kinds.

An object of the invention is to providea wire 'tightener or reeling apparatus, which, unlike known devices for the same purposes,- has a '10 range of .operation such that the wire or cord may be reeled in or paid out continuously over an indeterminate range, rather than being. limited to a rather short pulling range.

Another object of the invention isto provide a device of the character stated which is highly simplified in construction, rendering it easy to manipulate and inexpensive to manufacture.

Another( object is to provide a device of the kind referred to, the majority of its parts being capable of fabrication from sheet metal with the use of a press, rather than by more costly methods of manufacture.

Another object of the invention is to provide a running or continuous wire tightener comprising a special type of. rotary puller so designed and dimensioned as to eliminate slippage and chafing of the wire or cable reeled in or, paid out by the rotary pullers.

A furtherobject is to provide a device of the 3 character stated, in which is incorporated-adjustable means accommodating the rotary pullers to wires or cables of different diameters and materials.

The foregoing and other objects are attained by the means described herein and disclosed in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is afragmental elevational view of the device of the invention, with parts broken away in the interest of clarity of the disclosure; 4

Fig. 2 is a top View of the device illustrated by .Fig. 1, the-bar l and the wires embracing said bar being omitted.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional 3-3 of Fig.1.

Prior to the present invention, various forms of tools have been developed for the tightening and twisting of tie-wires or other wires to be joined by twisting them together, but in the majority of instances suchtools have had very limited applicability to wire tightening and twisting problems due" to the. incorporation ofparts or [mechanisms having a relatively short pulling range. The previously known tools accordingly were useful only under circumstances calling for view taken on line 5 often occurred that most of the, slack in the wire had to be taken up by the twist, making an unnecessarily long twist which subsequently had to be clipped off.

Withthe tool of the present invention, it is possible to form-a very short twist, and to remove practically all slack from the wire or cable before imparting the twist thereto. With the present tool, itis possible also to apply it to amoving unusual amounts of slacktherein. More over the present device may be used purely asa winch Whenever desired, so that objects thereby may be reeled or dragged substantial distances with the use of this device.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, the

characters Sand 6 may be considered the opposite ends of a wire loop, which loop includes a stationary post or other support I together with possible other objects encircled by the loop. The

wire end 5 preferably passes through an aperture B in the frame or housing of the tool or is otherwise held -thereby, while'the longer end portion 6 is gripped between the working surfaces of a pair of rotary pullers indicated generally by the characters 9 and III. In the interests of simplicity and economy, the frame or housing may be constituted of a pair of sheet metal plates [2 and i3 spaced apart so as to accommodate the rotary pullers and their associated elements, the plates being bent inwardly at the locations l4 and fastened together by welding or the like for the purpose of providing a handle I5 which may 0 be equipped with a hand hole Hi. It should be understood that a handle with a hand hole should preferably be furnished at the right hand end of the tool as well as at the left hand end which the drawing illustrates. The body of the frame or housing i2--I3 may be shaped otherwise than as a rectangle, herein shown.

Each side i2 and I3 of the frame or housing is drilled or punched at the locations lfll'l and l8-I8- to receive the transverse shafts l9 and 20 respectively. One of the ends 2| of shaft l9 may be squared or otherwise adapted for the reception of a handle or equivalent actuator indicated at 22, this being furnished for imparting rotational movement to the shaft l9 within its bearings ll- -II. Within the confines of the frame or housing, shaft 19 has fixed thereto the rotary puller 9, which in turn is fixed relative to a gear 23. Upon rotating the shaft l9 by means of handle 22, the puller! and gear 23 are caused to rotate in unison. Shaft l9 carries also suitable spacing elements which will be rcferred to more particularly in the description of the other rotary puller indicated at "I.

As is most clearly illustrated by Fig. 1, an extra gear 24 may be furnished, itsteeth meshing with the teeth of gear 23 so that the handle 22 may be applied to the angular end '25 of gear shaft 26 whenever the effect of a reduction gear is needed for the pulling of extremely heavy loads.

The shaft 26 may be merely a. stud passing through an aperture 21 of housing wall I3,"the reduction gear 24 being fastened on one end of the stud interiorly of the housing, while the angular end 25 projects exteriorly for accommodat-' The intermeshing gear 28 carried by shaft 2a,.

has its teeth constantly engaged with the teeth of gear 23, so that therotational movement applied to gear 23 will be transmitted to gear 28. Gear 28 is fixed relative to the rotary puller Ill, in substantial. parallelism therewith preferably through the mediums of pins or. rivets 29 which pass through these elements. Between the gear and the rotary puller there is interposed a suitable spacing means 30, which conveniently may be in the form of a three legged spider as illustrated by the line 30 of Fig.1. The pins, rivets, or other fasteners 29 pass through the gear 28,

the spider 3B, and the rotary puller l0. Between the gear 28 and the adjacent face of plate l3, a

suitable spacing washer 3| may be mounted upon the shaft 20, and a second spacing washer 32 likewise may be interposed between the rotary puller l0 and the adjacent face of plate l2. These spacing washers may be omitted if desired, al-

though they are conducive to the smooth and metal plates 35 and 36 the peripheral edges of which are flared outwardly as at 31 so that when the plates are placed back to back, there will be formed a peripheral. groove 38 running all the way around the rotary puller. P1ates35 and 36 may be welded or otherwise secured together, if desired, but under ordinary circumstances the pins 29 if tightly fitted and peened will ordinarily sufiice to hold the plates in flatwise abutment. Fig. 3 shows the spacing spider 30 and the spacing washers 3i and 32 previously referred to, along with gear 28. By referring to 1, it will belobserved that the rotary puller has preferably .the shape of a, tri-lobe wheel, the lobes of which are indicated by the characters IDA, HIB and IIIC. These lobes are equally spaced apart and radiate from the center of shaft 20. For best results in the operation of the device of the invention, it is imperative that the diameters of the lobes be equal, and that the centers of all the Jones be at a distance from the center .of shaft 20, equal to a lobe diameter. This limitation of proportions establishes the contour of the re: cesses or indented portion between adjacent lobes; so that a lobe of the other rotary puller 9 will; upon rotation of both rotary. pullers, travel with in the recessed portion of the puller l0 uniformly spaced from its periphery, with a rolling action devoid of slippage such as would tend to apply pp sing tensile forces to the wire gripped by the rotary pullers.

Another important consideration is that the centers of shafts l9 and 20 be spaced apart a vdistance approximately two lobe diameters, th' only variation in this distance to be that necessary for slightly adjusting the rotary pullers to the thickness of the wire or cable fitted between them.

As will readily be understood by reference to Fig; l, rotation of the rotary puller 9 in a clockwise direction will, through gears 23 and 28 efl'ect corresponding rotation of the rotary puller l0 but in an opposite direction. As lobe 10B moves down to leave the recess between lobes 9A and 93, it will continuouslyroll along the wire 6. Of special notice is the fact that in thusly rolling along the wire, the lobe IOB cannot slip relative to the periphery of the rotary puller! and thereby chafe or elongate any portions of the wire. The gripping action will be continuous, and any i length of wire may be drawn in past the rotary puller. It should be appreciated that'the wire 6 will at no time be free to slip because the engagement of the lobes thereonis forceful and uniform in all relative positions of the lobes of both rotary pullers. 1

After the rotary pullers have been rotated sufficiently to remove all slack from the wire undergoing tightening, the handles l5 at opposite ends of the frame or housing may be grasped for rotating the entire tool bodily relative to the post or other support 1, thereby to establish a twist of the wire endsthat embrace the stationary support. In order that the twist may be most easily performed, there may be provided between the walls l2 and I3 of the frame or housing, a wire guide or block 40 including means to shear the wire ends after the twist has been completed.

This will be explained in greater detail after.

As was previously mentioned herein, it is desirable to provide the tool with means whereby wires, cords, or cables of different diameters, within reasonable limits, may be accommodated by herein-v the peripheral grooves of the rotary-pullers. One

simple form of means for this purpose consists in furnishing the shaft 20 with eccentricend portions H and 42 (Fig. 3) these end portions being received in the bearings I8-I8'of the side plates l2 and i3. Theextreme end of the shaft at the eccentric bearing portion 42 may be threaded as indicated at 43 to carry a nut 44 adapted to bear against the side plate l2 when a locking nut 45 is tightly screwed onto the opposite threaded end 46 of the shaft. Thus by loosening the looking nut 45 a wrench may be applied to the nut 44 for shifting the intermediate eccentric portion 20 of the shaft toward and from the center of the other shaft I 9 that carries the rotary puller 9. After the proper spacing is secured between the peripheries of the rotary pullers, so as to acor the shaft 26, for rotating the rotary puller 8, and other gears 23 and 28, transmitting the wire by forming cuts tary 1 V justed rotatably m ma directedangularly from the bottom 54 of the bore v 52 was to meet theaperture 8 of the side wall l2 of the frame, thisbeing for the purpose of rotational movement to the second rotary puller In. Any wire such as 6 passing through the constricted 'sfiace between the pullers will be deliberately inked and advanced beyond the frame or housing of the device, without weakening the or ridges in its surface. In other words, the tool operates effectively \m'thout. serrations or other'gripping means within the peripheral grooves of the rotary pullers, and for this reason the wire is at no;time'subjected to. such mutilation as. would reduce its diameter and impair the strength thereof during'the tightening or reeling operation. of course, the walls of the peripheral grooves formedby the tri-lobed /p1ates ofxthe rotary pullers might be suitably roughened, if desired,

.without necessarily impairing the operation of the tool in general,

One important feature of the device herein disclosed, is that the rotary pullers be furnished preferably with only three lobes each; with the.

diameters-of the lobes equal to the distance from their centers to the center of rotation of the ro puller. If'a lesser or greater number of lobes be formed on the rotary puller, it will be discovered that the rolling tween the lobes of one puller'and the recesses the surface of the wire.

48 cooperating with suitable index markings on the frame to visually indicate the .eccentricity of shaft 20 necessary for the accommodation of different wire sizes. The index markings 49, which are preferably applied on an exterior face of a housing wall, such as l3, may be graduated and marked to read directly in wire sizes. As a' simple form of means for mounting the indicator 48', the hub 50 of the indicator. or pointer may be formed with a central aperture which is out action occurring .be-

will be free of such z-r wire out of the guide or i or block may be secured possible forms leadingend 5 of the wire toa location exteriorly of the side wall, where the wire may be turned for anchoring it against forces tending to pull the block 40. The guide between the walls l2 and l3 of the tool in any suitable manner, such as by means of pins or rivets 51. It is to be. understood that the tool of this invention may -be operated with the use of any suitable type of twist guide, or without a twist guide, as desired. If the twist guide be omitted, the end 5 of the wire will merely pass through theaperture 8 of the side -wall of the frame. As to the indicator illustrated at 48, attention is'directed to the fact that such indicator is only exemplaryof many of means focyisually informing the operator of, the tool that the pullers are ad- 'justed for accommodating wires of one size or another.

It is to be understood that-the device of the invention is capable of various other modifications and changes in structural details, falling within the scope of the appended claims,and that -of the oth'en'will be accompanied by an undesirable slippage or scraping action of a; lobe upon In cases where the slippage is not too objectionable, such' as in the other soft material, the numgrasp portion.whereby the What is claimed is:

the invention accordingly is not to be limited to the precise structure herein disclosed except as the claims may define such express limitations.

'1. In a device of the class described, a'fraine havingopposite ends each including a hand frame is to be rotated within the confines for twisting a wire, means of the frame for reeling in an indeterminate length of wire, and means on the frame to hold one end of said wire during the reeling and twisting operations.

2. In a device of the, class described, the combination which comprises a sides apertured to provide a set of bearings, a

transverse shaft rotatable in the set of bearings,

' one puller interfitting having 'a grooved means'for rotating said shaft, a pair of rotary pullers each constituted of a tri-.lobed wheel equally spaced apart and separated by peripherally grooved recesses, the lobes and recesses of with the recesses and lobes of the other puller as the pullers are roof round, or shaped to-fit a fiat 5| formed on the screw threaded end 46 of shaft 20. By this means, the indicator or pointer will be caused likewise to rotate with n-the shaft when the shaft is adits eccentric position.

of .the wires when the tool is rotated bodilyby means of the handles I5. This guide or block 40 may consist merely of a rectangular'metallic element bored as at 52 throughout a portion of its length, from the nose end 53 to a point 54 which constitutesthe bottomof the bore.- The bore is made sufliciently: large to-accommodate the wires when twisted together. The bottom.

of the bore is drilled to provide apertures '55 and 56, which are most clearly. shown in Fig. 2, these xiii ' pullers .ea'ch. constituted of being receptive of the wires Band 5 -respective-.

ri'orly of the bore 52,"are sharp and will accordingly perform a shearing action upon the wires at the bottom of bore 52 whenever the twist becomes sumciently tight and extensive to fill'the bore. The aperture or channel 5 6 preferab1y is The edges of the apertures 55 and 56 inte-- tated'; one puller being fixed to that shaft which includes the means for rotating it, the other puller .being mounted for rotational movement, means transmitting rotation of one puller to the other puller at uniform speed but in opposite directions, and maintaining a space between the lobes and the recesses-of the pullers at their grooved peripheries for reception of wire or cable to be advanced by the pullers, and means for anchoring a wire or cable end to the frame of the device.'.

3. In a device of the class described, the com-'' bination which comprises a frame including sides aperturedto provide a set of bearings, a transverse shaft rotatable in the set of bearings, means for rotating said 'shaft, a pair of rotary a tri-lobed wheel having a-groovedperiphery with the lobes equal- 1y spaced apart and separated by peripherally grooved recesses, puller interfitting with the recesses and lobes of the other puller as the pullersare, rotated, one puller being fixed to that shaft which includes the means for rotating it, mounted centrally f rotational movement, means transmitting rota ion of one puller tothe frame including" periphery. with the lobes.

the lobes and recesses of one the other puller being other puller at uniform speed but 'in opposite directions, and maintaining a space between the lobes and the recesses of the pullers at their grooved peripheries for reception of wire or cable to be advanced by the pullers, the diameter of a transverse shaft in each setof bearings, means for rotating one of the shafts, a pair of rotary pullers each constituted of a tri-lobed wheel havinga grooved periphery with the lobes equal-. ly spaced apart and separated by peripherally grooved recesses, the-lobes and recesses of one puller interfitting with'the recesses and lobes of the other puller as the pullers are rotated, one puller being fixed to that shaft which includes the means for rotating it, the other puller being mounted centrally on the remaining shaft for rotational movement, means transmitting rotation of one puller to the other puller at uniform speed but inopposite directions, and maintaining a space-between'the lobes and the recesses of the pullers at their grooved periph-' eries for reception of wire or cable to be advanced by the pullers, and means for varying the distance from one shaft to the other, for accommodating the grooved peripheries of the pullers to wires or cables of different diameter sizes.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination which comprises a frame including sides apertured to provide two sets of bearings, a transverse shaft in each set of bearings, means for rotating one of the shafts, a pair of rotary pullers each constituted of a tri-lobed wheel having a grooved periphery with the lobes equally spaced apart and separated by peripherally grooved recesses, the lobes and recesses of one puller interfitting with the recesses and lobes of the other puller as the pullers are rotated, one puller being fixed to that shaft which includes the means for rotating it, theother puller being mounted centrally on the remaining shaft for rotational movement, means transmitting rotation of one puller to the other puller at uniform speed but in opposite directions, and maintaining a space between the lobes and the recesses of the pullers at their grooved peripheries for reception of wire or cable to be advanced by the pullers, the diameter of each puller lobe being equal'to the distance center of a lobe to the center of rotation of the puller on which the lobe is situated, and the distance between puller centers being approximately twice the diameter of a lobe, and means associated with one of the shafts for varying the distance between puller centers.

6. In a wire tightener, the combination which comprises a frameincluding means for the attachment thereto of one end of a wire to be tightened, a passage in the-frame for the entry of another wire end into the frame interior, and means within the frame for continuously reeling in the wire end last mentioned throughout an indeterminate range of advancement, said attachment means being adjacent to the passage in order to maintain the wires in juxtaposition for twisting them together'upon bodily rotation pf th frame.

7 In a wire tightener, the combination which comprises a frame including means for the attachment thereto of one end of a wire to be tightened; a passage in the frame for the entry of another wire end into the frame interior, and means within the frame for continuously reeling in the wire end last mentioned throughout an indeterminate range of advancement.

8. In a wire tightener, the combination which comprises a frame including means for the attachment thereto of one 'end of a wire to be tightened, a passage in the frame for the entry of another wire end into the frame interior, means carried by the frame for frictionally gripping and reeling in the wire. end last mentioned throughout an indeterminate range of advancement, and means for selectively adjusting the gripping. force of -the frictional gripping and reeling means.

9. Ina wire tightener, the combination which I comprises a frame including spaced substantially from the a parallel side walls, and means within the frame confines for frictionally gripping and advancing a wire fed thereto, a guide in advance of the gripping and advancing means, said guide comprising a bored block supported between the side walls of theframe with its bore substantially aligned with the gripping and advancing means,

. said bore having a bottom apertured for receiving two wire ends to be twisted together upon bodily rotation of the frame, and means for the anchorage of one of the wire ends to-preclude retraction thereof from the guide.

10. In a wire tightener, the combination which comprises a frame including spaced substantially parallel side walls, and means within the frame confines for frictionally gripping and advancing a wire 'fed thereto, a guide in advance of the gripping and advancing means, said guide comprising a bored block supported between the side walls 'of the frame with its bore substantially aligned with the gripping and advancing means, said bore having a bottom apertured for receiving two wire ends to betwisted together upon bodily rotation of the frame, and means for the anchorage of one of the wire ends to preclude retraction thereof from the guide, said wire receiving apertures having sharp edges disposed within the guide bore for shearing off the wire ends upon completion of the twisting operation.

11. In a device of the class described, the combination which comprises a frame including sides apertured to provide a set of bearings, a transverse shaft rotatable in the set of bearings, means for rotating said shaft, a pair of rotary pullers each constituted of a tri-lcbed wheel having a grooved periphery with the lobes equally spaced and separated by peripherally grooved rccesses, the lobes and recesses of one puller inter" fitting with the recesses and lobes of the other puller as the pullers are rotated, one puller being fixed to that shaft which includes the means for rotating it, the other puller being mounted for rotational movement, means transmitting rota tion of one puller to the other puller at uniform speed but in opposite directions, and maintaining a space between the lobes and the recesses of the pullers at their grooved peripheries for re- 12. In a device of the class described, the combination which comprises a frame including sides apertured to provide a set of bearings, a transverse shaft rotatable in the set of bearings, means for rotating said shaft, a pair of rotary pullers each constituted of a tri-lobed wheel having a frictional periphery with'the lobes equally spaced apart and separated by arcuate recesses, the lobes and arcuate recesses of one puller interfitting with the recesses and lobes of the other puller as the pullers are rotated, one puller being-fixed to that shaft which includes the means for rotating it, the other puller being mounted centrally for rotational. movement, means transmitting rotation of one puller to the other puller at uniform speed but in opposite directions, and maintaining a space between the lobes and the recesses of the pullers at their complementary peripheries for reception of a length of material to be advanced by the pullers, the diameter of each puller lobe being equal to the distance from the center of a lobe to the center of rotation of the puller on which the lobe is situated, and the distance between puller centers being approximately twice the diameter of a lobe.

13. In a device of the class described, the combination which comprises a frame including sides apertured to provide two sets of bearings, a transverse shaft in each set of bearings, means for rotating one of the shafts, a pair of rotary pullers each constituted of a tri-lobed wheel having a frictional-periphery with the lobes equally spaced apart and separated by arcuate recesses, the lobes and arcuate recesses of one puller interfitting with the recesses and lobes of the other puller as the pullers are rotated, one puller being fixed to that shaft which includes the means for.

movement, means transmitting rotation of one puller to theother puller at uniform speed but in opposite directions, and maintaining a space between the lobes and the recesses of the pullers at their complementary peripheries for reception of a length of material to be advanced by the pullers, and means for varying the distance from one shaft to the other, for accommodating the complementary peripheries of the pullers to materials difiering in thickness.

14. In a device of the'class described, the combination which comprises a frame including sides apertured to provide two sets of bearings, a transverse shaft in each set of bearings, means for rotating one of the shafts, a pair of rotary pullers each constituted of a tri-lobed wheel having a frictional periphery with the lobes equally spaced apart and separated by arcuate recesses, the lobes and arcuate recesses of one puller interfitting with the recesses and lobes of the other puller as the pullers are rotated, one puller being fixed to that shaft which includes the means forrotating it, the other puller being mounted centrally on the remaining shaft for rotational movement, means transmitting rotation of one puller to the other puller at uniform speed but in opposite directions, and maintaining a space between the lobes and the recesses of the pullers at their complementary peripheries for reception of a length of material to be advanced by the pullers, the diameter of each puller lobe being equal to the distance from the center of a lobe to the center of -rotation of the puller on which the centers being approximately twice the diameter lobe is situated, and the distance between puller of a lobe, and means associated with one of the shafts for varying the distance between puller centers.

HENRY W. ROOS- 

